Sacramento County is poised to extend an emergency ordinance that temporarily bans the creation of any new “adult-related establishments.”

Last month, the county issued the ordinance temporarily banning
"bathhouses, escort bureaus, modeling studios or sexual encounter
centers." Tricia Stevens is the county's Senior
Planner. She says studies have shown low rent districts
attract such businesses, but that county code did not properly
address these kinds of adult establishments.

STEVENS: "This does not affect adult theaters and live
theaters. Those are already regulated as far as the distance
from residential areas and so forth. This particular
ordinance affects what we call other adult -related establishments
like bathhouses and modeling studios and so forth."

The county is trying to avoid the same problem it had with
medical marijuana earlier this year. Dozens of pot shops
opened because county code was less restrictive than city code.
There are at least two dozen escort services online that list
Sacramento as a place they do business. The county says it
knows of only four. If approved, the county's emergency
extension gives it 10 months to change the law.